


Grapevine

by youcouldmakealife



Series: Impaired Judgment (and other excuses) [130]
Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M, YCMAL 'verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28579584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youcouldmakealife/pseuds/youcouldmakealife
Summary: “Well,” Stephen says. “This is not going to help his reputation. And it wasn’t great already.”“Stephen,” Gabe says.“I’m being honest!” Stephen says.“Try honesty with less brutality,” Gabe says.
Relationships: OMC/OMC
Series: Impaired Judgment (and other excuses) [130]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/849798
Comments: 48
Kudos: 347





	Grapevine

Jared manages to get through training camp and one preseason game before Bryce’s reputation spectacularly implodes, along with his personal well-being, and Jared’s personal well-being, and the Marcus Mathesons well-being as a whole.

“They think I’m dating Erin,” Bryce says, when Jared can finally get him to make sense, because so far the call that woke Jared up has just been a lot of hyperventilating and swearing. “There were like, pictures when we — they think I’m like, cheating on an imaginary wife with Erin and it hit the Sun’s website an hour ago. With pictures.”

Jared shuts his eyes. “The Sun’s a right-wing rag,” he says. “Nobody with a brain believes the Sun.”

“Tons of people believe the Sun, Jared,” Bryce snaps. “A lot of Flames fans read the fucking Sun.”

“Fuck,” Jared says. “Did they identify her?”

“No,” Bryce says.

Thank fuck. It’s still bad — Erin’s eighteen years old and looks her age, and Bryce wearing a wedding ring and hanging out with an eighteen year old — it looks bad. It looks awful.

“What’s Summers say?” Jared asks.

Bryce mumbles something.

“Bryce,” Jared says.

“He left a voicemail,” Bryce mumbles. “I haven’t called him back.”

“Call him back!” Jared says.

“He’s going to scream at me,” Bryce says.

“You want me to call him?” Jared says. “I mean, Erin’s my sister, I can—”

“No, I will,” Bryce says. “I just — I needed to tell you first.”

“Okay,” Jared says. “I have to call Erin. And my parents, and — fuck, have you told Elaine?”

“Not yet,” Bryce says.

“Call Elaine first,” Jared says. “Then Summers. Then call me back and let me know what he says.”

“Okay,” Bryce says shakily.

“Okay?” Jared says.

“Okay,” Bryce says a little more firmly. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologise for the media being fucking stupid,” Jared says.

“I’m really sorry,” Bryce says. “Jared.”

“Stop it,” Jared says. “I love you, okay? You didn’t do anything wrong. Stop apologising to me.”

Bryce mumbles yet another sorry.

“Call your mom,” Jared says. “Before she finds out from the thousand alerts she has on you.”

Jared’s parents don’t have a thousand alerts on him or Bryce — at least Jared thinks so — but time’s still of the essence with that one. Jared texts Greg to give him a call, ditto to Erin, who’s almost certainly still asleep, then tackles his mom first. Partly because his dad might be out on a job, more because he really, really doesn’t want to tell his dad. Hopefully his mom will do it for him.

“Hi honey,” his mom says brightly, and then gets less and less bright as Jared lays out the situation. 

“Okay,” she says finally. “You haven’t told Erin yet?”

“She’s probably still sleeping,” Jared says.

“I’ll call her,” she says.

“Can you tell dad too?” Jared says.

“No,” mom says.

“Mom,” Jared says.

“No, you’re telling your father,” mom says.

“Please?” Jared says.

“Jared, my priority right now is to call my daughter and explain the situation to her, I don’t have the time to tell your father because you’re afraid he’s going to be mad at you,” she snaps. “Tell him yourself.”

Jared bites his lip.

“I’m not mad at you or Bryce, I’m mad at the situation,” she says, softening.

“I know,” Jared mumbles.

“But I really do need to call Erin right now,” mom says. “And your father needs to know. And not from the Sun.”

“He doesn’t read the Sun,” Jared says.

“Jared,” his mom says.

“Okay,” Jared says. “Okay.”

“Good luck,” she says.

Jared’s going to need it.

“What’s up, bud?” his dad asks. “Just talked to you yesterday.”

His dad is like — dangerously quiet as Jared sums up the situation.

“If you haven’t called your mother yet, call her now,” he says finally, voice so even it cuts through Jared, and hangs up. Jared’s assuming the hanging up is so he doesn’t say something he regrets.

Greg’s texted him back, a _Going to talk to Summers and then give you a call._ , so he guesses Greg got a voicemail from Summers too.

Jared goes to make coffee, hovers over the machine until he can retrieve a cup, spends a solid ten minutes of pacing and debating whether or not he should check twitter — it’s hard not to, but he also knows it’d be a huge fucking mistake — before Bryce calls him, voice shaky as he recounts his conversation with Summers. Summers has an idea. It’s not a terrible one. Probably the best one available.

“Okay,” Jared says. “We’ll do it.”

“It’s — you know it’s risky,” Bryce says. “That people might—”

“I’m not letting everyone think you’re sleeping with my sister,” Jared snaps. “Let me — I gotta call my mom.”

“Yeah,” Bryce says. “Me too. For the — she’ll say yes.”

“My mom or yours?” Jared says.

“Mine,” Bryce says.

Elaine’s not who Jared’s worried about.

His mom’s quiet when Jared explains Summers’ suggestion. 

“I’ll talk to Erin and your father,” she says. “I don’t see why not.”

“Okay,” Jared says, gets a text from her a few minutes later saying _They both agree that’s the best solution._ , along with a thumbs up emoji from Erin that backs that up, calls Bryce back to relay the message, fucking sick of playing telephone.

 _Can I come over?_ Jared texts Gabe after he gets off the phone with Bryce. He honestly needs to look somebody in the eye right now rather than get them on the phone. _It’s kind of an emergency and I need your advice._

 _Of course._ Gabe replies, and Jared walks it because it’s almost as fast as driving and he probably shouldn’t be operating heavy machinery right now, the state his head is in.

Stephen answers the door, looking concerned, which doesn’t suit his face, then even more concerned by whatever Jared’s own face is doing.

“Hockey or Bryce?” Stephen asks.

“Bryce,” Jared says, and follows him in, sits heavily on the couch, Gabe coming in and sitting down on the other side, Stephen cramming himself in the middle. He has pointy elbows.

“I know,” Stephen says when Jared mumbles that. “I use them to get my way a lot.”

“He does,” Gabe agrees. “What’s up, Math?”

“I need advice,” Jared says.

“We gathered,” Gabe says.

“What particularly queer advice do you need?” Stephen says.

“Steve,” Gabe says. 

“It is kind of particularly queer,” Jared says, hating the triumphant sound Stephen makes.

“Come to me with your gay problems, my child,” Stephen says.

Gabe snorts.

“Uh,” Jared says. “The media.”

“Sucks,” Stephen says.

“The fans all thought Bryce married was married to his teammate’s girlfriend last year,” Jared says. Ash finds it funny. Chaz used to, but he’s getting increasingly pissed, and Jared gets it. “Now they figure Bryce and my sister are an item because they did this staycation thing at a hotel for her graduation. And the Calgary Sun’s picked up the story with the implication he’s like, cheating on his mystery wife with her.”

Jared swears Gabe and Stephen wince in perfect unison.

“She’s younger than you, right?” Gabe asks.

“Yeah,” Jared says.

“How old is she?” Stephen asks.

“Eighteen,” Jared says.

“Oh, so older—” Stephen says.

“I am fully prepared to sleep in the guest room if you finish that sentence, Stephen,” Gabe says.

Stephen does not finish the sentence.

“It looks bad,” Gabe says.

“It looks really bad,” Jared says. “And it’s not like he can say ‘no I’m not dating a teenager, or cheating on a wife, she’s my husband’s little sister’. They haven’t figured out who Erin is yet but if and when they do it’s—”

“Cheating on a mystery wife with a rival NHLer’s little sister,” Gabe says. “Shit.”

“Yeah,” Jared says. 

“Well,” Stephen says. “This is not going to help his reputation. And it wasn’t great already.”

“Stephen,” Gabe says.

“I’m being honest!” Stephen says.

“Try honesty with less brutality,” Gabe says.

Stephen rolls his eyes. “I assume he’s talked to Summers about this?”

“Yeah,” Jared says.

“And Summers says?” Stephen says.

“Summers says ‘fuck’,” Jared says. “And apparently called Bryce an idiot a lot. And suggests we do a thing about how the Marcuses and Mathesons are long-time family friends, do some heartwarming feature about friendship across divisional lines or whatever, provide some pictures me and Bryce together and our families together for evidence our families have been close-knit for years. My family’s okay with it. Or like. They’re willing.”

“But it opens a door to further scrutiny,” Stephen says. “Can I suggest something?”

Jared eyes him.

“Stop wearing your wedding ring before you do that article,” Stephen says. “And maybe for a while after.”

“No,” Jared says.

“Jared,” Stephen says.

“No,” Jared says. 

Stephen blows out a breath. “You want to be stubborn and out? Because that’s how stubbornness gets you outed.”

“I don’t care,” Jared snaps. “I’m not going to pretend I’m not married to him.”

“You do it every day lying by omission, how is this any different in practice?” Stephen asks.

“You literally get to fucking live with your boyfriend full-time don’t you fucking dare—”

“Jared,” Gabe says.

“Sorry,” Jared mumbles. Stephen’s earned it, but Gabe hasn’t done anything.

“I don’t get to live with him full-time,” Stephen says.

“Stephen,” Gabe says.

“Well, I don’t,” Stephen says, shoving off the couch and disappearing down the hall.

“Sorry,” Gabe says. “About kind of — everything.”

Jared laughs. “Thanks,” he says.

“I’m going to call Dave Summers,” Stephen says from the hall.

“Why?” Jared says.

“Know the business, know you both socially,” Stephen says, leaning on the door frame now. As dramatic sulks go that one didn’t last. “It’s a perspective he probably needs for the action plan.”

“You’ve met Bryce all of once,” Jared says.

“But I know you’re a stubborn ass who won’t listen,” Stephen says. “Which Summers should be aware of.”

Jared gives him the finger.

“I’m going to talk to Summers,” Stephen says, then disappears again.

“That’s Stephen for ‘sorry for being a dick, I will never actually apologise but I will try to make it up to you’,” Gabe says. “For the record.”

Jared snorts. “Thanks for the translation.”

“It’ll be okay, Math,” Gabe says. “Maybe not like, immediately but. It’ll be okay. You want a quote from me about how you and Bryce are like ‘practically brothers’ or something? Had an article about me saying that about me and Stephen. Can’t see the forest through the compulsory heterosexuality.”

“How do you stand it?” Jared says.

Gabe shrugs. “You just do. You make your choice or it’s made for you, and you live with it. The only reason I don’t have to pick a side to stand on is because nobody gives a shit about my career outside of Canucks fans. I’m a room guy, not a media one. I’m not going to make headlines. Bryce does. You might, if you keep growing as a player.”

“Probably won’t,” Jared says.

“Twenty-one is way too early to know that,” Gabe says. “You have the head for it. You don’t learn playmaking or hockey IQ if you don’t already have it when you hit the show.”

“Yeah,” Jared says. 

“And according to one of Stephen’s sisters you look like an angel, which doesn’t hurt with fans,” Gabe says. “You can imagine how much it pained Stephen to hear Beth say that.”

Jared snorts. 

“People tend to take things at face value,” Gabe says. “Summers has a good idea there.”

“Yeah,” Jared says.

“But Stephen’s right,” Gabe says.

“I’m not taking off my wedding ring,” Jared says.

“I didn’t mean that,” Gabe says. “You’re opening a door that you can’t close again. And if people start looking more closely — you guys don’t hide it well.”

Jared tips his head back against the couch, looks up at the ceiling. 

“You got any other suggestions?” Jared asks.

“Nope,” Gabe says. “Just let me know if you need a BS quote from me. Happy to provide.”

“Thanks,” Jared says. His phone buzzes, and he checks it. Bryce again. 

“I’ll check on Stephen,” Gabe says.

“I’m not trying to kick you out—” Jared says, but Gabe’s waving a dismissive hand, already out of the living room.

“Hey,” Jared says.

“Hi,” Bryce says. He sounds less frantic, Jared can tell even after a single syllable, but he also sounds exhausted. “I just talked to Summers’ assistant. He’s in talks with Flames PR. They figure they can convince the NHL to do it as a heartwarming main page piece, post it the day of the next Flames-Canucks game.”

“Okay,” Jared says.

“He’s going to send me some scripts and stuff for the article,” Bryce says. “Fuck, I hate this.”

“Me too,” Jared says. 

Bryce sighs, and Jared sighs back, and they sit in mute, miserable silence until Jared catches Stephen lurking in the doorway. Jared waves a hand at him. Stephen just smirks.

“I have to go, I’m at Gabe and Stephen’s and Stephen’s lurking in the doorway like a total creep.”

Bryce snorts. “Okay,” he says. 

“You’re being creepy,” Jared informs Stephen in case he hadn’t gathered that. “And rude. Give people privacy.”

Stephen shrugs, sits down beside him. “It’s my house,” he says. “And Summers is on a call with your agent, so I have nothing else to do but bother you.”

Jared rolls his eyes.

“I do not offer these lightly,” Stephen says seriously. “And offering one right now does not mean this will become a trend. It will not.”

Jared blinks at him.

“Would you like a hug,” Stephen says flatly.

“Absolutely not,” Jared says, just as flat.

Stephen holds a mute arm out, and Jared sinks into it, because he kind of would, in fact, like a hug right now.

“It’s going to work out,” Stephen tells him, the words tucked against Jared’s cheek. “It might be a bit before it is, and there might be a shitshow somewhere in there—”

“Stop helping,” Jared mumbles.

“It’ll work out,” Stephen says, and Jared wants to believe him, tries to believe him, hopes like hell he’s right.


End file.
